'Bomb factory' man gets 30 years in prison

George Djura Jakubec, accused of making homemade explosives at his Escondido-area home, is shown here at a November arraignment in Vista Superior Court, where the case originated. At the time, the judge ordered Jakubec's photo not be published, but that prohibition has been lifted.
— Peggy Peattie

George Djura Jakubec, accused of making homemade explosives at his Escondido-area home, is shown here at a November arraignment in Vista Superior Court, where the case originated. At the time, the judge ordered Jakubec's photo not be published, but that prohibition has been lifted.
— Peggy Peattie

Bomb house burned: A controlled burn destroys a “bomb factory” home near Escondido on Dec. 9 in a bid to render safe volatile explosives stored inside. Renter George Jakubec remains in federal custody on explosives-manufacturing and bank-robbery charges. The gardener who stepped on an explosive Nov. 18, leading to the discovery of the cache, continues to recover from his injuries.
— John Gibbins

Bomb house burned: A controlled burn destroys a “bomb factory” home near Escondido on Dec. 9 in a bid to render safe volatile explosives stored inside. Renter George Jakubec remains in federal custody on explosives-manufacturing and bank-robbery charges. The gardener who stepped on an explosive Nov. 18, leading to the discovery of the cache, continues to recover from his injuries.
— John Gibbins

San Diego  Whatever it was that drove George Jakubec to create and stockpile pounds of powerful explosives in his Escondido-area home remained a mystery after the 55-year-old former computer software engineer was sentenced Monday in federal court to 30 years in prison.

A federal prosecutor said that after an “exhaustive” investigation authorities are sure of this: Jakubec was not connected to terrorism nor did he plan to use the explosives to blow up buildings or target people.

His lawyer, Michael Berg, suggested Jakubec descended into a tailspin of depression and stress after he lost his job in 2007, and had become increasingly troubled over his failure to find new work. His wife and former co-workers offered similar explanations in letters to U.S. District Judge Larry Burns but also acknowledged they were baffled at the reasons behind Jakubec’s bomb-making.

The one person who could offer insight into the bizarre case — Jakubec himself — declined to do so. He had ordered Berg not to try to explain his motives or to file court papers on his behalf. Jakubec also turned down an opportunity to speak in court.

That odd silence closed a case that when it surfaced last year had potentially explosive consequences.

One prosecutor called the find the largest collection of this type of explosive material in one location and likened the house to a “bomb factory.”

The cache baffled investigators and bomb experts who feared the chemicals were too volatile to remove from the cluttered house. Jakubec had been a hoarder for several years, Berg said, stuffing mounds of electronics parts and other materials inside the home.

Authorities decided burning down the house was the safest way to neutralize the explosives, and the highly orchestrated plan was successfully executed Dec. 9 with a monstrous blaze. As a precaution, roads near the home Jakubec rented, including a portion of Interstate 15 in Escondido, were closed during the fire.

On March 14, Jakubec pleaded guilty to a holdup at a Bank of America on East Ocean Air Drive in San Diego on Nov. 13, 2009, and an attempted robbery at the same bank on Nov. 27, 2009.

In all, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rees Morgan said Jakubec had robbed or tried to rob four banks while armed with a handgun. He pleaded guilty to the bank robberies because they carry a far more severe penalty than the explosives charges he faced, which carried about four years in prison, Morgan said.

The prosecutor said in the months after Jakubec’s arrest that federal, state and local investigators had followed leads and interviewed scores of people before concluding Jakubec was not a terrorist or someone bent on destroying specific targets.

On Monday, Jakubec looked very different than in his previous court appearances. He had lost about 20 pounds and had a distinctly gray pallor to his skin.